THE PRESENT INVENTION relates to an air-bag arrangement, and in particular relates to an air-bag arrangement for use in a motor vehicle, such as a motor car, to provide protection for the driver or an occupant of the vehicle in the event that an accident should arise.
It has been proposed previously to provide an air-bag arrangement in a motor vehicle in which an air-bag is mounted in the roof of the vehicle and is adapted, when deployed, to occupy a position in which at least part of the air-bag is located in front of the occupant of the vehicle to be protected.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,795,412 discloses an air-bag arrangement in which a plurality of inflatable tubes are provided which are initially stored in the roof of a vehicle, above the driver. The tubes are associated with netting that interconnects the tubes. In the event that an accident arises the tubes are inflated and extend downwardly from the roof of the car forming a cage that surrounds the occupant of the car and also the back of the seat in which the occupant of the vehicle is sitting. Thus the head and torso of the occupant are prevented from moving forwardly or laterally relative to the back of the seat. It is thought that if this system were to be used, in an accident situation, the head of the occupant, which typically moves forwardly relative to the torsoxe2x80x94since the torso is usually restrained by a seat beltxe2x80x94will engage the combination of the inflatable tubes and the netting and will be bent rearwardly relative to the torso, which may lead to undesirable injuries. At the conclusion of the accident, the occupant will still be encaged by the netting, even if the inflatable tubes deflate, and thus may have great problems in leaving the vehicle. This is undesirable since in many cases it is desirable for the occupants of a vehicle to leave the vehicle as soon as possible after an accident has occurred. A further problem with this arrangement is that if the occupant of the vehicle is leaning forwardly at the instant that the air-bag arrangement is deployed, they may be held in the forward position, instead of in the upright position, which may lead to an increase in the injuries sustained, rather than a decrease.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,774,936 discloses an arrangement in which an air-bag is mounted in the roof of a vehicle in a housing that extends transversely of the rear seat. The air-bag, when deployed, is located in front of an occupant of the vehicle seat. The air-bag is associated with wires on each side of the vehicle. Each wire is an endless loop which is connected to anchoring points in the roof and behind the shoulder of the occupant of the seat, there being a loop of fabric on the air-bag that surrounds the wire of the endless wire loop. The arrangement guides the inflating air-bag so that, when inflated, the air-bag applies a downward and rearward force on the pelvic area of the occupant of the seat, as well as providing a physical barrier in front of the seat occupant to restrain forward movement. In use of an arrangement of this type there is again a risk that the head of the occupant will engage the inflated bag before the torso, and thus the head will be bent back in an undesirable manner relative to the torso.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,536,008 also discloses an air-bag arrangement in which an air-bag is mounted on the roof of a motor vehicle to be deployed to occupy a position in front of an occupant of the vehicle in the event that an accident occurs. The air-bag is designed so that the lower end of the air-bag engages and applies a downward force to the lap of the occupant of the vehicle to retain the occupant of the vehicle in the desired position, whilst also forming a barrier in front of the occupant. The upper part of the air-bag is mounted to the roof of the vehicle in such a way that the upper part of the air-bag can move forwardly, from its initial position, by up to a predetermined distance if the occupant of the vehicle applies a substantial force to the inflated air-bag. The upper part of the air-bag moves against a bias provided by springs. Again it is thought that if the head of the occupant makes contact with the air-bag after is has been deployed, even though the top part of the air-bag can move forwardly slightly, nevertheless, there is still a severe risk that the neck of the occupant will be bent back as the torso continues to move forwardly while the head is restrained.
The present invention seeks to provide an improved air-bag arrangement.
According to one aspect of this invention there is provided an air-bag arrangement in a motor vehicle to protect an occupant of the vehicle in the event that an accident should occur, said arrangement incorporating an air-bag, the air-bag initially being retained within a recess at a position above the occupant to be protected, the air-bag being associated with a gas generator means to provide gas to inflate the inflatable element and a sensor, the sensor being adapted to sense an accident and activate the gas generator means to inflate at least a main inflatable part of the air-bag, the air-bag being adapted to be deployed, on inflation, with a main inflatable part thereof located in front of the occupant of the, vehicle, there being means initially connecting the main inflatable part of the air-bag to the recess, the means being adapted to release the main inflatable part of the air-bag from the recess on inflation of the air-bag so that the said main inflatable part of the air-bag is free to move downwardly out of the recess, becoming separated from the recess.
According to another aspect of this invention there is provided an air-bag arrangement in a motor vehicle to protect an occupant of the vehicle in the event that an accident should occur, said arrangement incorporating an air-bag, the air-bag initially being retained within a recess at a position above the occupant to be protected, the air-bag being associated with gas generator means to provide gas to inflate the inflatable element and a sensor, the sensor being adapted to sense an accident and activate the gas generator means to inflate at least a main inflatable part of the air-bag, the air-bag being adapted to be deployed, on inflation, with the main inflatable part thereof located in front of the occupant of the vehicle, there being means initially retaining the main inflatable part of the air-bag in the recess, the means being adapted to release the main inflatable part of the air-bag from the recess on inflation of the air-bag so that the said main inflatable part of the air-bag is free to move downwardly out of the recess, becoming separated from the recess.
According to a further aspect of this invention there is provided an air-bag arrangement in a motor vehicle to protect an occupant of the vehicle in the event that an accident should occur, said arrangement incorporating an air-bag, the air-bag initially being stored at a position above the occupant to be protected, the air-bag being associated with gas generator means and a sensor, the sensor being adapted to sense an accident and activate the gas generator means to inflate the air-bag, the air-bag being adapted to be deployed, on inflation, in front of the occupant of the vehicle wherein the air-bag is constrained to be inflated in such a way that during the initial stages of inflation the air-bag is relatively thin (as measured in the direction of the axis of the vehicle) and is located in front of the occupant, and subsequently the thickness of the air-bag (as measured in the direction of the axis of the vehicle) increases.
According to another aspect of this invention there is provided an air-bag arrangement in a motor vehicle to protect an occupant of the vehicle in the event that an accident should occur, said arrangement incorporating an air-bag, the air-bag initially being stored at a position above the occupant to be protected, the air-bag being associated with gas generator means and a sensor, the sensor being adapted to sense an accident and activate the gas generator means to inflate the air-bag, the air-bag being adapted to be deployed, on inflation, in front of the occupant of the vehicle, wherein the air-bag is provided with at least one element extending from one lateral side of the bag to an anchor point located above and behind the occupant.
According to another aspect of this invention there is provided an air-bag arrangement to provide protection for a driver or occupant of a motor vehicle, the air-bag arrangement comprising a sensor responsive to deceleration of an impact of the motor vehicle, gas generator means adapted to be actuated in response to a signal from the sensor, and a gas duct provided to receive gas from the gas generator means, the gas duct extending from a fixed point on the vehicle to a main inflatable part of an inflatable element, the inflatable element initially being retained in a recess, the arrangement being such that on actuation of the gas generator the gas duct becomes substantially rigid to locate at least the main inflatable part of the inflatable element in a predetermined position.
According to another aspect of this invention there is provided a method of deploying an air-bag arrangement, which air-bag arrangement includes a gas duct and an inflatable element, the method comprising the steps of inflating a gas duct so that the gas duct becomes substantially rigid, inflation of the gas duct locating at least part of the inflatable element in a predetermined position, and inflating the main inflatable pail of the inflatable element.
According to a further aspect of this invention there is provided an air-bag arrangement to provide protection for a driver or occupant of a motor vehicle, the air-bag arrangement comprising a sensor responsive to deceleration of or an impact of the motor vehicle, gas generator means adapted to be actuated in response to a signal from the sensor, and an element to be inflated by gas from the gas generator means, the element being adapted to move the main inflatable part of an inflatable element from an initial position within as recess to a desired position.